Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1887-02-04
LOOKING GLASSES.
A BRIEF CHAPTER ON THE Or
IGN OF MIRRORS.
Looking Glasses OF the Bible-Mir-
rOrs Used by the Ancients--A Per-
sian Ornament Mapufac-
ture of Glass Mirrors.

Any solid substance that can be pol
ished will, to certain extent, answer
for a mirror; and metallic Choking
glasses" are frequently mentioned in the
Old Testament. Such looking glasses
were made of mixed metal, chiefly of
copper, and were susceptible of lustre
which Sir G.. Wilkinson says has been
partially restored in some OF those dis
covered at Thebes, though buried in the
earth for many centuries. They were
round or oval, and inserted in handles
of metal, wood or stone, whose form and
ornamentation varied with the tastes of
their owners.
In the catacombs of ancient Rome,
mirrors have been found which appear
to be made of mixture OF bronze and
lead and tin, while others are of pecu-
liar kind of stone supposed to be vitri-
fed lava.
Pliny mentions the rage for silver mir
rors as an evidence of Roman extrava-
gance, and says every Roman girl wanted
one. Plutarch says that Demosthenes
had looking probably of silver
and sufficiently large to reflect his entire
person-before which he was accustomed
to rehearse his orations and arrange his
gestures.
There were two serious objections to
metallic mirrorS-their weight and the
fact that they were liable to distort the
features of those looking into them. The
latter was, of course. offensive to ancient
beaux and bellies, and led to the substitu-
ton of metal of obsidian, black stone,
sometimes transparent quote again
from Pliny-"but of so dull transpa-
rency that, as a mirror, it renders the
shadow rather than the image of an OBJ
ject."
When the Spaniards discovered Amer
lea they found mirrors made of a sub
stance which they called the Inca's stone,
because it was used by the Peruvian
princes for ornamental purposes. twas
sort of pyrites, susceptible of a high
degree of polish and excellently we'll
calculated for mirrors.
AS the ancients were familiar with
glass, it seems strange that they were not
acquainted with mirrors made therefrom.
True, Aristotle, some 400 years B. c.,
wrote: "Glass and crystal must be lined
with a sheet of metal in order to give
back the image presented to them. But
most authors regard glass mirrors
modern invention.
The first mention of glass mirrors-af-
ter their present form occurs in work
on optics written by an English monk,
| Johannes Peckham, in 1879. In it he
| speaks of 'glass mirrors, covered on the
back with lead, that reflect no image if
the lead is scraped off," And another
careful Investigator thinks the invention
cannot date from a period earlier than
the middle of the thirteenth century, be-
cause in France, during the fourteenth
century, glass mirrors were scarce, while
| those of metal were abundant.
The crusades, which did so much to &C.
quaint Western with the industries and
civilization of Eastern Europe, was the
| direct cause of the introduction of the
manufacture of glass into Venice. For a
long time, this was the only Place where
| glass was manufactured, and thither
every other country, desiring articles of
glass, was compelled to go or send. Ve-
I etian glass rapidly became famous, and
its sale the source of an immense revenue
to the Republic.
Naturally, Venice was anxious to Sc
cure to herself for the future so valuable
monopoly; and, to this end, through
the Council of the Ten" she ordered
the glass makers to leave the city proper,
and establish themselves at Murano on
an island little distance northeast from
Venice. Moreover, it was proclaime |
that if a workman should export any.
thing that might enable other countries
to enter into competition with Venice
so far as the making Of gla was con.
cerned-his property would be contis.
Gated and himself liable to be put to
death
At Murano, glass mirrors were first
made after the manner suggested by
Aristotle-by placing a metallic sheet
back of the glass. The experiment did
not prove satisfactory, and metal mirrors
remained in vogue till the beginning OF
the sixteenth century, when two glass.
makers of Murano discovered the method
of making mirrors which had for several
years prevailed in Germany.
The German process was as follows.
Melted lead or tin was blown with pipe
into hollow ball of glass, while hot,
thereby entirely coating its interior.
When the glass had cooled, it was cut
into small, round mirrors.
The two Muranese improved on this
method by substituting an amalgam OF
tin and quicksilver in place of the metals
used by the Germans. Then they petit
toned the Council of the Ten" that the
right to manufacture these mirrors be
granted them exclusively for twenty five
years. The desired privilege was granted
them for twenty years,
Wonderful success attended the enter
prise, and, when the twenty years had
expired, hundreds engaged in it, In
deed, so numerous were the mirror-mak-
ers, the Venetian Government separated
them from the other glass maker, and
established distinct company for their
benefit.
Gradually, the manufacture of glass
mirrors advanced toward perfection, anG
no one did more in this direction than
Liberale Motta, who fourished at Murano
about 1850, and "made them of size
previously unattainable. - Golden Days.